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There exists no single definition of which groups, families and species are seabirds, and most definitions are in some way arbitrary. Elizabeth Shreiber and Joanna Burger, two seabird scientists, said, "The one common characteristic that all seabirds share is that they feed in saltwater; but, as seems to be true with any statement in biology, some do not."
Like most terns, this species feeds by plunge-diving for fish, either in the sea or in freshwater, but molluscs, crustaceans and other invertebrate prey may form a significant part of the diet in some areas. Eggs and young are vulnerable to predation by mammals such as rats and American mink, and large birds including gulls, owls and herons.
This is a list of the bird species recorded on the Coral Sea Islands.The avifauna of the Coral Sea Islands include a total of 45 species.. This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2022 edition.
Within these colonies, they most often nest in groups of 10 to 30 (or rarely 100) individuals. [46] Breeding can occur at any time of year, often prompted by commencement of the dry season or plentiful food. [44] Frigatebirds have the most elaborate mating displays of all seabirds.
The most important family culturally is the albatrosses, which have been described by one author as "the most legendary of birds". [76] Albatrosses have featured in poetry in the form of Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's famous 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner , which in turn gave rise to the usage of albatross as metaphor for a burden . [ 77 ]
[10] The Manx shearwater was first described by Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich as Procellaria puffinus in 1764. [4] [11] The current scientific name Puffinus derives from "puffin" and its variants, such as poffin, pophyn, and puffing, [12] which referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the shearwater, a former delicacy. [13]
Many shearwaters are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly sooty shearwaters, which cover distances in excess of 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from their breeding colonies on the Falkland Islands (52°S 60°W) to as far as 70° north latitude in the North Atlantic Ocean off northern Norway, and around New Zealand to as far as 60° north latitude in the North Pacific Ocean off Alaska.
Most seabirds are colonial, and the reasons for colonial behaviour are assumed to be similar, if incompletely understood by scientists. Procellariids for the most part have weak legs and are unable to easily take off, making them highly vulnerable to mammalian predators. Most procellariid colonies are located on islands that have historically ...